I am implementing the Chromecast SDK into my Android application and I'd like to know if it's at all possible to make the Cast button appear regardless of whether there are available cast routes available?
Currently, the SDK works by hiding the button until it find a viable route to cast to.
However, I want to show the user some on screen instructions, and need the button to be there from the start, so they can see what it looks like.
Is this possible?
You need to use MediaRouteButton and then you can manage its visibility yourself. However, that is not the right experience; you should tie the appearance of your "instructions" to when the cast button shows up; if cast button doesn't show up, don't show any instructions since that will confuse user anyway. You can look at the CastVideos-android app which does that.